If I'm honest I have no real idea what my goal is in this yet. I have chatted with my boss and my job is going to branch out gradually now so it will encompass some IT web content stuff and this is a role that will grow over time. So that may make it a little more interesting and give me some more things to add to my CV.

My partner and I have discussed starting a business together, he's a mountain biker so it will be something along those lines. But that wouldn't be anytime soon as we need to figure out a business plan and decide if it's viable (I hope so as I'd love our own business).

As for the degree, it is all things I am interested in and many of the things that me and my partner discuss together so the degree is appealing for that reason. If it also led to something that would be fantastic.

Although I am still thinking this one through but it really is the cost that is causing the apprehension. A lottery win would be very well received right now

"The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species." - Christopher Hitchens

"Remember kids, if you don't sin, then Jesus died for nothing. Have a great day!" - Ricky Gervais

So I find your situation a little similar to mine except for me I am working on a third degree as I have a bachelor's and master's already. I have been hating my job for a while now but it pays good. I finally said fuckit and while I still work at my current job I am working toward a degree in mathematics that I hopefully turn into a career I might actually enjoy. I have also been lucky that I have had the GI Bill to use but that is almost used up. I say go for it but be sure of the degree you want before you do.

Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.

An older friend decided at 65 to get her Bachelor of Arts 3 yr degree. She did this as a correspondence course but had to travel monthly about 300 mi to the university for classroom time of two days. She was over the moon when she got her degree and then went onto study ornithology (birds).

(27-06-2015 04:42 AM)Eva Wrote: Thanks all for your collective advice. TBH at this stage I have no idea whether to do it or not. All I know is a need to move on to something as I feel as though I'm stagnating. I am looking for another job but most admin jobs don't pay as much as the one I'm in so it's highly likely i'll stay where I am and if I do I have to do something to stop pre-death brain decomposition. I have a lot of thinking to do.

Why not go for it?

I had a newbie drum student who was 65. He's now in a band.

You're never too old.

And you are not old.

NOTE: Member, Tomasia uses this site to slander other individuals. He then later proclaims it a joke, but not in public.
I will call him a liar and a dog here and now.
Banjo.

(26-06-2015 02:37 AM)Eva Wrote: I'm 45 and pretty dissatisfied with my, albeit fairly well paid, admin job. Admin is quite possibly the dullest thing to do day in day out. I have been in my current job for 13 years and it has served me well in that I have raised a daughter on my own and brought a house on the back of it. But I have reached a point where I feel stuck. The problem I have is that the only real skills I can sell to a prospective new employer are admin skills and that is what I no longer want to do.

So I am looking for something more fulfilling to do while I am stuck here and looking for something else. I already have a foundation degree which I have done with The Open University (a home study uni based in the UK which is very well regarded) but it is not a focussed degree but an open one. Which means over the years I have done courses which have added up to enough credits for a foundation degree but not in any particular subject. I mainly did these as I enjoyed studying but never really had one thing I wanted to focus on.

Now I am thinking about doing another with The OU, although this time an BA (Hons) in International Studies.

My apprehension is this will take me 6 years to complete as it will be part time to fit around work, so I'll be 51-52 when I complete it and it will cost me £15,000. I am wondering if I can justify this at my time of life and whether I will be able to put it to use in the real world after completion as I'll be closer to retirement age than most job applicants?

If I won the lottery tomorrow I would just enrol without any apprehension and do it for the love of studying but unfortunately finances are an issue and if I am to spend all that cash it would need to pay for itself in the future otherwise I'm just an administrator with an International Studies BA and £15,000 less cash.

I am 46 and finishing up my third degree, you are never to old to learn, 5 more classes at two per semester and i will have my third degree....came a long way from the anti social high school drop out, chase your dreams, you only live once, live!

"Belief is so often the death of reason" - Qyburn, Game of Thrones

"The Christian community continues to exist because the conclusions of the critical study of the Bible are largely withheld from them." -Hans Conzelmann (1915-1989)

(26-06-2015 02:37 AM)Eva Wrote: I'm 45 and pretty dissatisfied with my, albeit fairly well paid, admin job. Admin is quite possibly the dullest thing to do day in day out. I have been in my current job for 13 years and it has served me well in that I have raised a daughter on my own and brought a house on the back of it. But I have reached a point where I feel stuck. The problem I have is that the only real skills I can sell to a prospective new employer are admin skills and that is what I no longer want to do.

So I am looking for something more fulfilling to do while I am stuck here and looking for something else. I already have a foundation degree which I have done with The Open University (a home study uni based in the UK which is very well regarded) but it is not a focussed degree but an open one. Which means over the years I have done courses which have added up to enough credits for a foundation degree but not in any particular subject. I mainly did these as I enjoyed studying but never really had one thing I wanted to focus on.

Now I am thinking about doing another with The OU, although this time an BA (Hons) in International Studies.

My apprehension is this will take me 6 years to complete as it will be part time to fit around work, so I'll be 51-52 when I complete it and it will cost me £15,000. I am wondering if I can justify this at my time of life and whether I will be able to put it to use in the real world after completion as I'll be closer to retirement age than most job applicants?

If I won the lottery tomorrow I would just enrol without any apprehension and do it for the love of studying but unfortunately finances are an issue and if I am to spend all that cash it would need to pay for itself in the future otherwise I'm just an administrator with an International Studies BA and £15,000 less cash.

I am 46 and finishing up my third degree, you are never to old to learn, 5 more classes at two per semester and i will have my third degree....came a long way from the anti social high school drop out, chase your dreams, you only live once, live!

(10-07-2015 05:48 PM)goodwithoutgod Wrote: I am 46 and finishing up my third degree, you are never to old to learn, 5 more classes at two per semester and i will have my third degree....came a long way from the anti social high school drop out, chase your dreams, you only live once, live!

What? No shirtless pics on this thread, I'm upset

"Belief is so often the death of reason" - Qyburn, Game of Thrones

"The Christian community continues to exist because the conclusions of the critical study of the Bible are largely withheld from them." -Hans Conzelmann (1915-1989)

(26-06-2015 02:37 AM)Eva Wrote: I'm 45 and pretty dissatisfied with my, albeit fairly well paid, admin job. Admin is quite possibly the dullest thing to do day in day out. I have been in my current job for 13 years and it has served me well in that I have raised a daughter on my own and brought a house on the back of it. But I have reached a point where I feel stuck. The problem I have is that the only real skills I can sell to a prospective new employer are admin skills and that is what I no longer want to do.

So I am looking for something more fulfilling to do while I am stuck here and looking for something else. I already have a foundation degree which I have done with The Open University (a home study uni based in the UK which is very well regarded) but it is not a focussed degree but an open one. Which means over the years I have done courses which have added up to enough credits for a foundation degree but not in any particular subject. I mainly did these as I enjoyed studying but never really had one thing I wanted to focus on.

Now I am thinking about doing another with The OU, although this time an BA (Hons) in International Studies.

My apprehension is this will take me 6 years to complete as it will be part time to fit around work, so I'll be 51-52 when I complete it and it will cost me £15,000. I am wondering if I can justify this at my time of life and whether I will be able to put it to use in the real world after completion as I'll be closer to retirement age than most job applicants?

If I won the lottery tomorrow I would just enrol without any apprehension and do it for the love of studying but unfortunately finances are an issue and if I am to spend all that cash it would need to pay for itself in the future otherwise I'm just an administrator with an International Studies BA and £15,000 less cash.